How are household and neighborhood-level poverty associated with
early childhood outcomes

To what extent is transitioning out of poverty associated with
these outcomes?

Does the timing of that move matter?

In the study the researchers
used four categories of poverty:

Both household and
neighborhood poverty

Just household poverty

Just neighborhood
poverty

No poverty

Household poverty was defined based on whether a mother received Employment and Income Assistance in the month of their child’s birth. Neighbourhood poverty was based on whether a family lived in the lowest income quintile neighbourhood.

Child outcomes
included:

Vulnerability on the Early Development Instrument

Placement in out-of-home care

Externalizing mental health diagnosis

Asthma diagnosis

Hospitalization for injury

What did the
researchers find?

Of the 46,589 children in the cohort, nearly 25% were born in poverty. Of those born in poverty:

25.4% experienced both types of poverty

23.8% experienced only household poverty

50.8% experienced only neighborhood poverty

Children born in either household or neighbourhood poverty were more likely to be vulnerable on the EDI than those not born into poverty.

For children born into household poverty, transitions out of poverty at any age were associated with a lower probability of EDI vulnerability.

For children transitioning out of neighbourhood poverty, EDI outcomes were only better if the move happened before age 2.

Transitioning into either neighbourhood or household poverty was associated with worse EDI vulnerability.

Children living in both household and neighbourhood poverty had the highest rates of placement in out-of-home care (24.2%). These rates for household poverty (17.4%) were considerably greater than those for neighborhood poverty (3.1%).

Household poverty was associated with higher odds of externalizing mental conditions and asthma, but neighborhood poverty was not.

Children born into both household and neighborhood poverty were more likely to be hospitalized for an injury (2.1%) than children not born into poverty (0.6%).

What does this
research mean?

Children growing up in poverty are at risk for poorer
outcomes than those never experiencing poverty or only briefly experiencing
poverty in the first few years of life. Children born into household poverty
have much worse early outcomes than those born into neighborhood poverty.

Supports to help families transition out of poverty
would be most effective for children’s later development if they happened early
in life.